For the month of October, the Charlottesville Transportation Service will experiment with providing fare-free bus services for all riders in an effort to increase the number of riders. Depending upon the outcome of the trial period, City Council may decide to permanently abolish CTS bus fares.
"Our goal is to expand ridership and determine whether going fare-free will accomplish that," CTS Manager Bill Watterson said.
According to Watterson, Council is supporting the temporary removal of fares in the month of October to determine if removing fares will effectively expand ridership, mitigate traffic and improve the local environment.
The annual budget for CTS is $5.25 million. Roughly half a million dollars comes from bus fares, Watterson said, adding that if those fares were abolished, the City of Charlottesville would need to find a way to fill the funding gap. The rest of the funds needed for the budget are provided by the City of Charlottesville, Albemarle County and the University of Virginia, he said.
CTS sought to expand ridership with the University by establishing a fare-free program for University ID card holders. According to the CTS Web site, this policy was implemented in April 2007 and will run until June 2008.
Council member Dave Norris is a strong supporter of the experiment and predicts it will benefit the environment.
"If you look at the amount of emissions created by 20 cars versus the amount of created by one bus with 20 people riding on it, they don't even come close," he said.
According to Norris, CTS will soon expand its routes and increase the frequency of bus stops. In addition, it will implement a real-time system that will allow people at bus stops to see how long they need to wait before the arrival of another vehicle. CTS will also expand its Web site so that patrons can obtain such information online.
Ultimately, Norris said he would like to see the creation of a multi-regional transit authority, similar to the local jail or waste management authority, that could maximize the efficiency of Charlottesville public transportation.
The community's attitude toward public transportation "looks like it has been improving," said Zachary Shahan, executive director of the area group Alliance for Community Choice in Transportation. "I see positive things on the horizon"
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